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Thursday, May 4, 2006
AP … Can’t Get Enough
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Okay, one more post on the AP front. The Newsweek list, created by Jay Mathews of the Washington Post, looks at the percent of students who take AP exams. But as a poster in the college admissions business noted on an earlier thread, the formula does not take into account the scores on the AP exam.
Mathews’ reasoning is that kids are better off taking the AP course and scoring poorly on the exam than taking a regular college prep course and getting an A. (There is some evidence that this is the case, that kids do better in college if they give the AP course a try..it’s not just one guy’s opinion.)
The flip side of that, of course, is that kids will be pushed into AP who can’t handle the work. Several teachers posted about their experiences with this, which compromises the class for those who truly belong in AP.
So what’s the answer? Should kids be encouraged to take AP courses, even if they probably won’t be able to get a 3 out o 5 or higher on the exam? If so, should their be separate AP courses for marginal and advanced students at schools with enough students to support two classes?
